-LRB- CNN -RRB- Whenever ISIS carries out a new atrocity , whether it 's beheading a group of Egyptian Christians or enslaving Yazidi women in Iraq or burning its victims alive , the big question most people have is : Why on Earth is ISIS doing this ? What could possibly be the point ?

Adding to your list of enemies is never a sound strategy , yet ISIS ' ferocious campaign against the Shia , Kurds , Yazidis , Christians , and Muslims who do n't precisely share its views has united every ethnic and religious group in Syria and Iraq against them .

ISIS is even at war with its most natural ally , al Qaeda in Syria .

The Nazis and the Khmer Rouge went to great lengths to hide their crimes against humanity . Instead , ISIS posts its many crimes on social media for global distribution with seemingly no thoughts for the consequences .

ISIS ' beheading of the American journalist James Foley in mid-August galvanized much of the Western world against the group and led to an intensified U.S.-led air campaign against ISIS , which , according to U.S. military officials , has killed at least 6,000 of its fighters .

The burning to death by ISIS of the Jordanian pilot , Muath al-Kaseasbeh , galvanized much of the Arab world against the group and has brought Jordan into the U.S.-led campaign against ISIS in a much more aggressive manner .

The beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya by an ISIS affiliate led Egypt 's air force on Monday to drop bombs on ISIS positions in eastern Libya .

Former CIA director Robert Gates is reported to have kept a maxim on his desk that read , `` As a general rule , the way to achieve complete strategic surprise is to commit an act that makes no sense or is even self-destructive . ''

ISIS keeps surprising the world and its actions do indeed seem to make no sense or are self-destructive .

So what is going on here ?

A key window into understanding ISIS is its English language `` in-flight magazine '' Dabiq . Last week the seventh issue of Dabiq was released , and a close reading of it helps explains ISIS ' world view .

The mistake some make when viewing ISIS is to see it as a rational actor . Instead , as the magazine documents , its ideology is that of an apocalyptic cult that believes that we are living in the end times and that ISIS ' actions are hastening the moment when this will happen .

The name of the Dabiq magazine itself helps us understand ISIS ' worldview . The Syrian town of Dabiq is where the Prophet Mohammed is supposed to have predicted that the armies of Islam and `` Rome '' would meet for the final battle that will precede the end of time and the triumph of true Islam .

In the recent issue of Dabiq it states : `` As the world progresses towards al-Malhamah al-Kubra ̄ , -LRB- ` the Great Battle ' to be held at Dabiq -RRB- the option to stand on the sidelines as a mere observer is being lost . '' In other words , in its logic , you are either on the side of ISIS or you are on the side of the Crusaders and infidels .

When American aid worker Peter Kassig was murdered by ISIS in November , `` Jihadi John '' -- the masked British murderer who has appeared in so many ISIS videos -- said of Kassig : `` We bury the first crusader in Dabiq , eagerly waiting for the rest of your armies to arrive . ''

In other words , ISIS wants a Western ground force to invade Syria , as that will confirm the prophecy about Dabiq .

We live in an increasingly secularized world , so it 's sometimes difficult to take seriously the deeply held religious beliefs of others . For many of us the idea that the end of times will come with a battle between `` Rome '' and Islam at the obscure Syrian town of Dabiq is as absurd as the belief that the Mayans had that their human sacrifices could influence future events .

But for ISIS , the Dabiq prophecy is deadly serious . Members of ISIS believe that they are the vanguard fighting a religious war , which Allah has determined will be won by the forces of true Islam .

This is the conclusion of an important forthcoming new book about ISIS by terrorism experts J.M. Berger and Jessica Stern who write that ISIS , like many other `` violent apocalyptic groups , tend to see themselves as participating in a cosmic war between good and evil , in which moral rules do not apply . ''

This also similar to the conclusion of an excellent new cover story about ISIS in the Atlantic magazine by Graeme Wood who writes , `` Virtually every major decision and law promulgated by the Islamic State -LRB- another name for ISIS -RRB- adheres to what it calls , in its press and pronouncements , and on its billboards , license plates , stationery , and coins , ` the Prophetic methodology , ' which means following the prophecy and example of Muhammad , in punctilious detail . Muslims can reject the Islamic State ; nearly all do . But pretending that it is n't actually a religious , millenarian group , with theology that must be understood to be combated , has already led the United States to underestimate it . '' Amen to that .

ISIS members devoutly believe that they are fighting in a cosmic war in which they are on the side of good , which allows them to kill anyone they perceive to be standing in their way with no compunction . This is , of course , a serious delusion , but serious it is .

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The group 's atrocities have angered Americans , Jordanians and Egyptians

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Bergen : ISIS actions only make sense if you realize that its aim is the apocalypse .